You think Spurs have it bad? See Tromso - but AVB worries, why?

Tottenham Hotspur have fallen from Premier League title-chasing grace and, judging from the calls of their detractors, they must recruit a proven goal-scorer in English competition during the winter window transfer period, they squandered over £100m on players yet to prove their worth and the only immediate fixture remedy for a humiliating 6-0 loss is a hosting of Manchester United this weekend - it just doesn't get any easier for them.

However, despite their first world problems, there is a club who are in a far worse position, a club who Spurs travel to compete against later this evening, at the Alfheim Stadion in Tromso, Norway in the Europa League.

Tromso recently parted company with their previous manager Agnar Christensen, just last month. His replacement, understudy Steinar Nilsen, failed to secure the club's survival and they were relegated from the top flight of Norwegian football - the Tippeligaen.

Tromso are also in a financially precarious situation and have had to release the burden on their wage bill, meaning securing the transfers of accomplished first-teamers like their highest-earning star - Marcus Sahlman, a goalkeeper, who pockets £4k per week.

The sole piece of good news for Tromso is that they have never progressed this far in European competition, but because the Tippeligaen finished around three weeks ago, their playing roster will be one of two things, a: cumulatively fatigued from an arduous season, or b: lacking the sharpness required for 90 minutes of competitive football with a Premier League representative.

There is no doubt that Andre Villas-Boas will use the opportunity to shuffle his deck in order to keep his first-team fresh for the United clash on Sunday and so a number of fringe players or reserves will likely make his selection this evening.

'It is going to be extremely difficult conditions for sure,' Villas-Boas told a media conference ahead of the evening's encounter, before adding that the artificial pitch will test his players. 'An experience like this… particularly with the artificial pitch so we will sue the training as some kind of adaptation for that.'